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Meet Novocain. He is Rachel's pride and joy - the object of her affection. He was named by her - because he came into the family after Rachel's dentist appointment - in which, one of her teeth was pulled - so with swollen cheeks - and gauze packed gums - she found her hamster. On the way home - with slurred speech she told me that she would name him Novocain. Seemed appropriate then - with the events of the day fresh on our minds and on Rachel's gums.

I grew up with hamsters. My sister, with her entrepreneur brain, figured out that selling hamsters to pet stores would allow her to earn enough money to purchase a Shetland sheepdog that she was in love with. She also figured the more she breed the creatures the faster she would get the dog - so, like I said - I grew up with hamsters - and a lot of them at times! (You can ask my mom - this is not an exaggeration at all!)

My mom has a deathly fear of rodents of any kind - she does not even enjoy watching squirrels climb up trees out side - she hates rodents!! Her feeling about these creatures are very similar to my sediments on bats. I am pretty sure that we both need counseling for our phobias - and no, phobias is not too strong of a word for the way both of us act around the despised and feared creatures of choice. (Although, as much as I hate bats - I hate birds even more - but that is a story for another post - way too much info about me!!)

Anyway, back to hamsters:

One thing about hamsters: They do NOT stay in their cages. If you ever have owned a hamster - you know this for a fact. If you are new to hamsters - you will find this out shortly - they WILL get out.

The other thing that is very common protocol for hamsters is - when they get out - they will do their best to stay as far away from humans as possible - making their recapture exceptionally hard and frustrating. They also run very fast. This makes for family memories that will be talked about over Christmas Dinner for years to come. (I have a great one about baby hamsters that got out of their box, in the car, while mom was driving, on the way to the pet store - I can not tell it without laughing!!

However, we have found an exception! Novocain loves being with people. When he gets out of his cage - he goes into the girls' room and finds the bottom bunk occupant and snuggles in bed with her. I thought it just a coincidence the first time it happened. Then it happened again. Still though, I had my doubts - until one night when the bottom bunk was empty - due to a bad dream. Abbey had come downstairs and was sleeping on the couch in the front room. In the wee hours of the morning she awakened Dad and I to tell us that she had felt something crawling on her. ( I was sure that she was dreaming - but Dad thought that he better have a closer look.) Well, Dad and Abbey went in and found Novocain sitting on the floor next to the couch looking at them. He did not run away - he just walked over to them - and let them put him back into his cage.

I think this little guy loves to snuggle. So much so, that when the bed is empty, it is worth a trip down the long staircase - to find them. I think he feels more secure sleeping next to them. I think he knows he is loved!

Odd indeed - but a true story. If you come for a visit I will not make you sleep on the girl's bottom bunk - unless of course you love rodents - Novocain is one of a kind.

He's a cutie! My daughter, Beth, is on her second hamster (I need to introduce him to my blog readers). Her first one was a Russian dwarf, but the new one is a teddy bear. The TB is proving more sociable. He hasn't gotten out yet, so we don't know if he's as social as Novocain! ;) A hammy is perfect for us right now, because we can't have a pet that will mess up the house.

What a cute story, we have done Hamsters, little RATS....and NO, I repeat NO birds, a HUGE Phobia for me, to include BATS.....Right now I will stick with my little dog, Chloe....who is always by my side as I sit in my relciner and blog, with my laptop teetering on one leg(plus size).Deby

We had a hamster much like old Nova! His name was Maynard and what a sweet good boy he was! he would get out of his cage and make a beeline for us. Just had to be with us all the time. He lived a good long life of 4 years.

I don't like rodents much, but in ascending order hamsters, guinea pigs and rabbits are ok. Your little guy IS cure. My daughter did a Science Fair project with 2 hamsters, exposing one of them to heavy metal music once a day for a period of weeks. The other was treated the same way but without any heavy metal. They were both played with and loved, etc. The metal head hamster began to get mean and started biting. I guess you can figure out her thesis.Nancy

I like the name your daughter selected...Novocain sounds like a very lovable little rodent...I'm not sure he would do very well in our household because we have two puppies.....I think it's sweet because he likes to sleep with someone...

Wow! How interesting!I love the name, by the way. ;o)I had a hampster as a little girl and snuck it into the grocery store with me. It ate a hole in my raincoat and almost escaped. Needless to say, I was in a bit of trouble for sneaking him in.